Still Breathing
by Death-star510
Summary: Fifty sentences for Forge/Mortimer.


Warnings: angst, character death, mentioned sex

#1 – Ring

Mort swore under his breath that he was _never_ going to let Forge watch a horror movie _ever_ _again_. "Look, I promise no one is coming through the TV to kill you, now turn the light off and _go to sleep_."

#2 – Hero

Blood poured over Mort's hand as he clutched at the wound in his side and, as darkness overtook his vision, he was certain that he was going to die until he felt gentle arms lifting him and a familiar voice softly reassured him that everything was going to be okay.

#3 – Memory

Forge had only asked about Mortimer's family once; the boy had hastily muttered something about not being able to remember them clearly and Forge _knew_ it was a lie but he let it go. He understood that there were some memories that didn't need to be brought up again.

#4 – Box

It was only when Mortimer moved into his room that Forge realized just how little the green mutant owned; the entirety of his belongings barely filled a single box.

#5 – Run

Mort's eyes locked onto the body, mind unable to deal with the fact that he'd just _killed_ somebody – god, he hadn't _meant_ to do it, he'd just wanted to get away – and he turned to bolt only when he heard the sounds of more people approaching, able to outrun them but not the memory of his kick collapsing the man's ribcage.

#6 – Hurricane

He'd never really been able to appreciate Storm's powers until he saw her in battle; the tornadoes and lightning she conjured up in no way compared to the docile little rain clouds she watered the plants with.

#7 – Wings

When he saw the giant gash that had been left in the Blackbird's wing – How had they even managed to fly home with that? – Forge sighed and resigned himself to yet another night without sleep.

#8 – Cold

They had hunted for Forge all day to make him fix the mansion's heat only to find that he'd curled up with Mortimer in a thick cocoon of blankets in order to keep the younger mutant warm.

#9 – Red

Hesitantly, Mort reached out to touch Forge's shoulder only for his hand to come away red and he didn't even try to swallow his screams when he realized that it was covered in blood.

#10 – Drink

Mort stared dubiously at the drink that Forge insisted was delicious, wondering what strange things it contained to have turned that particular shade of hot pink.

#11 – Midnight

As much as he'd enjoyed it, Mortimer had only gotten half-way through the Lord of the Rings trilogy before things went south with the Brotherhood, so when he found Forge's copy he stayed up until midnight trying to finish it.

#12 – Temptation

"Forge, I need you to-" Logan was cut off by a dismayed cry from Mort and he looked up to see the rather intimate scene he'd just walked in on. "Do I have to send you two to opposite sides of the mansion if I want any actual _work_ to get done?"

#13 – View

Forge's excuse for suddenly starting to show up to Danger Room sessions was that he had to watch for any malfunctions in the updates he'd put into it but everyone knew that the only thing he wanted to watch was Mort.

#14 – Music

Suddenly there were arms hugging around Forge's chest and he almost yelped before he realized it was only Mort once again taking advantage of the loud music to sneak up on him.

#15 – Silk

Mortimer had extremely sensitive skin and it didn't take Forge long to find out that the texture of silk would make him shiver every time.

#16 – Cover

Forge always got clingy when he slept, but Mort never minded waking up with the older man draped over him.

#17 – Promise

The familiar sounds of Mortimer having a nightmare jerked Forge out of sleep and, as he pulled the shaking teen close, Mort's eyes silently begged him not to leave; the kiss Forge gave him promised that he wouldn't.

#18 – Dream

Getting together with Forge was like the best dream Mort had ever had but he still couldn't help but fear that someday the dream would end and Forge would realize just how many other options he had.

#19 – Candle

When the power went out the X-Men were left in the dark because, somehow, no one had thought to buy a flashlight or candles.

#20 – Talent

He may not have been a mechanical genius but Mort was _good_ with machines and Forge couldn't help but fall a little more for him because of it.

#21 – Silence

Agony shot through his shoulder, radiating into his chest and neck, and as much as he wanted to scream he couldn't seem to force any sound out; he could only grasp helplessly at the bloody stump where his arm used to be.

#22 – Journey

At first, Mort had been terrified that he was somehow going to screw things up with Forge but he eventually realized that he could learn as he went and that Forge didn't mind if there were a few bumps along the way.

#23 – Fire

It would have been far easier for Domino to focus on returning fire if Toad hadn't been curled up on the ground at her feet shouting for everyone to just stop _shooting_ already.

#24 – Strength

As much as he tried to assure himself that it was only a fracture, that it would heal up just fine, all Forge could think about was that he hadn't been strong enough to keep Mort safe.

#25 – Mask

Mortimer had a lot of practice hiding when he was upset, but Forge learned quickly how to see through the mask.

#26 – Ice

For a brief moment, Forge felt guilty for killing the man but when he looked back at Mort's broken body that guilt vanished and a new layer of ice formed around his heart.

#27 – Fall

Initially, he had thought that Forge had only been knocked out by the fall but when he moved to help he noticed that the man's head had twisted around at an impossible angle and he froze, eyes locked on the far too still form.

#28 – Forgotten

He took Mortimer's hand into his own and, as Mort stared at him confusedly, Forge realized he'd completely forgotten what to say next.

#29 – Dance

It had taken some convincing – and some shameless bribing – but Mortimer had finally agreed to dance with him and, even though he still occasionally muttered complaints under his breath, Forge could tell he was enjoying himself.

#30 – Body

Forge fell to his knees beside Mort and, even though on some level he knew there was no way that gaping wound in Mort's stomach wasn't fatal, he checked frantically for any signs of a pulse or breath, unable to process the thought that Mortimer wouldn't be coming home.

#31 – Sacred

The jet was Forge's pride and joy so Mortimer couldn't help but feel a small surge of delight when the man asked him to help with its repairs.

#32 – Farewells

He gave Mort a quick kiss before turning to leave and it's the hardest thing he's ever had to do because there was no guarantee that either of them would be coming back from this mission alive.

#33 – World

Apocalypse may have shattered the world they'd known but, somehow, they'd managed to build themselves a new one.

#34 – Formal

"You know, Logan's not going to get mad if you stop calling him sir."

#35 – Fever

Things got complicated the first time Mortimer got sick and Forge realized he had no idea what constituted a fever for an amphibian.

#36 – Laugh

Mort had laughed the first time Forge said that he loved him; it had hurt, but not as much as when he realized that it was only because Mort didn't think anyone _would_ love him.

#37 – Lies

"I swear I'm not angry," Forge said, pulling Mortimer into a hug. "I just . . . I just want to know when you're going to trust me enough to tell me the truth."

#38 – Forever

When he closed his eyes, Mort could still see Forge's motionless body, the blood pool slowly spreading around him, and all he could think was that he'd actually been _stupid_ enough to believe that the one good thing in his life could last forever.

#39 – Overwhelmed

Mortimer felt like he should have been able to say _something_ but he couldn't seem to find his voice; he just stared in shock at the X-Man uniform Forge had given to him.

#40 – Whisper

Screams and gunshots mixed together into one endless shriek and Mortimer cowered behind a wrecked car, whispering a frantic prayer to whoever or whatever would listen that it would all just _stop_.

#41 – Wait

It killed him not knowing what was wrong with Forge but at the moment there was little else he could do but wait for news.

#42 – Talk

They were silent for a moment before Mort finally spoke, so softly that Forge had to strain to hear him, "What do you want to know?"

#43 – Search

Dominic did not know who Pietro had been trying to recruit for the past two weeks but he was fairly certain that it was not the scrawny green kid he eventually returned with.

#44 – Hope

"I'm sure things will work themselves out," Forge said softly and he sounded so damned _hopeful_ that Mortimer couldn't help but believe him.

#45 – Eclipse

In only a few months, Mort had become the most important person in Forge's life, completely eclipsing everything else.

#46 – Gravity

It always amazed Forge just how acrobatic Mort could be; some of the green mutant's jumps seemed to almost defy gravity.

#47 – Highway

The main problem with taking the jeep out during the day was that Mort had to spend most of it crouched down out of sight for fear that some skittish driver would call the MRD on him.

#48 – Unknown

Mort didn't know what it was that had made him accept Forge's invitation to stay but at least now, lying curled up in Forge's arms, he knew it had been the right decision.

#49 – Lock

After the embarrassing incident with Logan, Mort flat out refused to do anything in Forge's lab until he had triple checked that the door was indeed locked.

#50 – Breathe

The mission may have left them exhausted and bruised but they were both still breathing and, in the end, that was all that really mattered.


End file.
